The good news about today is that it was NOT hot! Nor was it dry! But what fun is summer without a little rain? The tornado warning was a bit much but I think Mother Nature was just making sure we were paying attention. When the rain hit, people tried to pile into our tent like we were Noah’s Ark. Unfortunately, with the roadie cases, skateboard display, and tables, our tent provided anything but a refuge from the torrential downpour.
The Polaroid PoGo printer was a hit in Boston for sure! People wandered over to admire the skateboard display and see what all the “posing” was about. Being set up in front of the main stage is always fun because not only did we get a lot of fun people passing by, but we were able to hear our favorite bands while showing off the printer. Perhaps I should clarify the “favorite bands” part. I know that when we started I said I knew very little about the bands and I am sorry to say that I am still no expert, but every time I hear Reel Big Fish playing, I get super excited because:
I recognize their music
I have Polaroid PoGo’d the lead singer
See a and b
The word about the printer has definitely gotten around. Just yesterday in the city, Mike and I stopped to take a guy’s picture and he ended up being part of the tour (a merch guy with the band Relient K). He looked at our printer and said, “Aren’t you guys the ones with the whole ‘Leave Your Mark’ campaign?”
Right on!
Hopefully, the tour won’t miss Polaroid too much for the next week. Mike and I are headed back to Minneapolis to do some maintenance and gear up for Chicago, Minneaplois and the west coast. I know Mike is really looking forward to skating Burnside in Portland, OR and I’m excited to show him the west coast! Until then…leave us a comment about how you are “Leaving Your Mark” with the new Polaroid PoGo printer!
After leaving from NYC, we headed to Boston. We got in during the late evening and decided that a hearty Applebee’s meal followed by a movie, (my first all summer), would be a good way to wind down. I saw the Dark Knight and it was sick! I can’t wait to see what they do with the next Batman movie! Megan saw Mama Mia. Both theaters were super-packed.
We will be heading into Boston for the day before our event to check out the city, so be sure to check out how and where Megan and I leave our mark in Boston!
I now understand why everyone who visits New York leaves with an “I love New York” shirt. The place is magical. The food is out of this world, and the over stimulation of all your senses is fun! I coerced Mike into driving us into the city (no small feat considering the traffic boasted about in movies). We met up with my brother Peter and his girlfriend Leslie, who sank right into the role of the “Team Polaroid PoGo” tour guides. They took us to a wonderful restaurant for brunch where they served popovers the size of your head. I don’t know about Mike, but I was just relieved not to be eating Subway or McDonalds. Then we all piled into the Polaroid PoGo vehicle for a driving tour of the major sights to behold in NYC, Time Square, Union Square, Ground Zero, and all the districts in between. Mike found a music store and picked up some Matisyahu for the road and conveniently located right next store was Whole Foods: my version of heaven.
We had the opportunity to show people the Polaroid PoGo printer in NYC. When leaving our hotel in the morning, the front desk associate asked about the car we were driving which opened the door for discussion. I gave her a demonstration and she confessed to owning about four old Polaroid cameras. She was so impressed with the ZINK technology, she said she might just have to go out and purchase one. Peter and Leslie loved that it printed pictures from the cell phone and we got a couple of pictures printed out for them to keep. We also ran into some of their friends later in the day who were big Polaroid fans.
We are looking forward to bringing the printer into Boston and having another run of the Warped Tour on Wednesday.
People are putting their Polaroid PoGo prints everywhere! On their skateboards, on their bodies, and on their cameras! This girl in Detroit wanted to put a Polaroid PoGo print on her phone! Check it out!
Three things made Detroit top the charts on the Warped Tour:
The venue was at Comerica Park. Awesome!
Team Polaroid PoGo members Amber and Patrick hung out for the day!
Free Starbucks in catering!
Our booth was sadly not next to the Label Tent, where we usually are, but that didn’t stop us from having visitors and loads of fun. We were super busy all day!
I was really happy to see some Team Polaroid PoGo members out at the Warped Tour. Amber and Patrick were in and out of the tent all day, showing off the printer and meeting their favorite bands. I went out into the crowds later in the day to watch Patrick work his magic.
Possibly the best part of the day was the endless supply of free Starbucks in catering. I went back for round two just as they were shutting down and in exchange for a Polaroid PoGo printer demo, I got the last round of iced coffee. YUM! The girls were really excited because apparently at their store, they would use the old Polaroid to do a little bio of each employee and post it on the board. Now they have a new way to be seen!
Everything about today was AWESOME! Now we are on our way to Boston, with a possible stop in Manhattan to show my brother the printer. But first, sleep.
If you are bored at the Warped Tour, then we need to talk. From human billboards saying things like “Free Hugs”, “Kisses. $1”, “Will dance for stickers”, to a blow-up slip-and-slide, to meeting bands, there is just no excuse for being bored.
I met the cutest band EVER yesterday and showed them the Polaroid PoGo printer. Their name is Oreskaband from Japan. We didn’t speak the same language, so words did not suffice in the demonstration, but apparently my non-verbal cues did the trick. They “ooohed” and “aaahed” as the picture printed. Their tour manager/bouncer even came over to check it out. Then today when they saw me they pointed, waved, and said “Polaroid PoGo!”
After Alyssa’s run-in with Aaron from Reel Big Fish, I’ve been meaning get a picture for my brother, Peter, who listened to them continuously all throughout high school. Since Aaron already knew about the printer and we were basically on a first name basis (as in I know who he is and he thinks my name is Polaroid) I mustered the courage to ask for a picture for my brother. He obliged.
Cleveland was a fun stop. We didn’t have time to hang out in the city, but like I mentioned in my last post, Mike and I did stop by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That was pretty “sick” (a word I have picked up on and will use ONLY until the end of the tour. Apparently it means something along the lines of “cool”, “rad”, and “tight”. )
Checked out the sights when we got into Cleveland today. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame looks awesome from the outside but I’m not sure we’ll have time to check it out during the day.
I almost drowned today. In a sea of teenagers. As I was making my way over to catering to gather lunch for our troops, I noticed more than a mob of people. I attempted to make my way through, but quickly realized I didn’t have it in me to kindly ask everyone to step aside for “hungry Polaroid girl”. Thankfully, I have made friends with the vendors and was able to take a short cut behind their tents.
Despite the crowd, Columbia, MD (outside Washington, D.C.) was my favorite stop so far. The venue was absolutely beautiful. There were these green things with brown trunks that provided this welcome thing called shade. Beautiful. As usual, the Polaroid PoGo printer was a big hit. One of our ambassadors refused to take “boring” pictures, so we had a lot of fun catching peoples personalities on camera. And can I just say that my favorite thing about the printer is that you can print pictures directly from your cell phone! ANOTHER girl showed up at our tent with the ‘old school’ version of the Polaroid. She said that while she had a slight attachment to her version, she was impressed with the printer’s capabilities. How could you not be? No ink? Sixty seconds? Portable? Prints pictures from your cell phone?
Also, to be noted is my brief encounter with Batman.
He seemed a little younger and shorter than I remember him, but when I called his name he responded and even agreed to pose for the camera. He liked the Polaroid PoGo printer so much that he came back later in the day asking for more pictures. I told him I would be happy to take his picture, but that he did have a job to do. I mean, saving the world isn’t something you just do on your down time, right?
I think that I am going to invest in a stopwatch. Mike and I have a rhythm when it comes to breaking down our tent at the end of the day. I think that we keep beating our best time. Perhaps on our last stop we will have a “Polaroid PoGo Olympics” and see who can tear down the fastest. If you are there, maybe you can cheer us on and console Mike when he loses. Just kidding! (Kind of )
We are on our way to Cleveland. We just passed through Pennsylvania and watched the sun set as we drove through the valley. It was pretty much amazing. Until next time….
We’ve had a couple days off since our last stop in Miami, and while some would prefer to get some quality R & R, we decided to catch up with the Warped Tour in Elkton, FL on our way up to DC. I’m glad we went because I got one last chance to catch up with Matisyahu and his band one last time. We’re pretty much on a first name basis with them now, which is pretty cool. They invited us up on stage for their last Warped Tour show, which brought down the house. The crowd was really feelin’ it. I guess they wanted to give a proper send-off to Warped tour.
We stopped in Charlotte yesterday so Megan could catch up with some old friends; it’s always nice to get a little taste of home when you’re on the road. I, however, took that day to give the Polaroid PoGo vehicle it’s first check-up of the trip. Everything was tip-top so I devoted the rest of my day to a little printer charging in preparation for our 3-day run coming up in DC, Cleveland and Detroit.
Today we made our way through Virginia and its Blue Ridge mountains to our final destination; Washington, D.C. The printer got a little taste of history today as we showed it off near the Washington monument. This wasn’t my first time in DC, but it was the first time I’ve been up close to some of those landmarks. Although we didn’t have time to see it up close, we caught a glimpse of the White House from a distance. Sometime I’ll have to back and check it out, but for now we had to head out to our hotel to get ready for our three big days coming up. Until next time…
The good news about today is that it was NOT hot! Nor was it dry! But what fun is summer without a little rain? The tornado warning was a bit much but I think Mother Nature was just making sure we were paying attention. When the rain hit, people tried to pile into our tent like we were Noah’s Ark. Unfortunately, with the roadie cases, skateboard display, and tables, our tent provided anything but a refuge from the torrential downpour. 
